Q&A: ‘Kai Po Che’ Director Abhishek Kapoor

Abhishek Kapoor’s third film “Kai Po Che,” released in theaters worldwide on Feb. 22, is an adaptation of Chetan Bhagat’s novel, “The 3 Mistakes of My Life.”

The story is set in the early 2000’s and revolves around three young friends, Ishaan (Sushant Singh Rajput), Govind (Raj Kumar Yadav) and Omi (Amit Sadh), who open a store to sell cricket equipment with the dream of starting a school to train future stars of the sport.

Advertisement

India Real Time spoke with the director about the movie, which was an official selection at the Berlin Film Festival, the process of turning a novel into a cinematic adventure, and working with relatively unknown actors. Edited excerpts:

The Wall Street Journal: What made ‘The 3 Mistakes of My Life’ worthy of a film adaptation?

Abhishek Kapoor: Chetan Bhagat has a very clean and classic sense of narration and that’s the biggest draw to his writing. The clever use of friendship to take the story forward and the characterizations in his novel were naturally suited to my beliefs and my craft of storytelling. When we met to discuss a possible adaptation we hit it off well. It was a perfect match between two storytellers – one a novelist, and the other a filmmaker.

WSJ: What is the challenge of turning a book into a film?

Mr. Kapoor: The identification of a basic story or concept from a book is the first step and frankly the easiest. The next is to transplant that book onto the tapestry of a screenplay for cinema successfully. The pen thinks in one language while the camera picks up its own dialect. A writer pens down his story unconstrained from his imagination and lets it flow, whereas a screenwriter has to delve into this mind and literally flesh out the essence that lends itself to cinematic expression. The filmmaker has to sieve through the grain fields of the written material and define a clarity of vision, which by its very nature is an exclusionary process. That’s the essential difference.

WSJ: What inspired you to have ‘Kai Po Che’ as your next release, especially after a very successful commercial film such as ‘Rock On’?

Mr. Kapoor: I always say that ‘war has rules, mud wrestling has some, inspiration has none.’ I genuinely feel that life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a well-preserved body, but rather to skip in sideways, chocolate in one hand, wine in the other, totally worn out and screaming ‘Woohoo, what a ride!’ This is the thought that geared me toward ‘Kai Po Che.’

‘Rock On’ delivered me from failure to success. I wanted my next venture to deliver me from success within my comfort zone and take me beyond. It became imperative for me to push the envelope further and further, take on a personal challenge and manifest it into my professional space and ‘Kai Po Che’ was the project to do just that.

WSJ: What was it like working with Sushant Singh Rajput, Rajkumar Yadav and Amit Sadh?

Mr. Kapoor: Enriching, exciting, invigorating, humbling and never dull. My interactions with this league of extraordinary gentlemen took me back to my days when I was starting out as an actor, so initially I was a little protective. But these boys are freefalling champs with an iron will and a talent DNA pool that’s exceptional. They have gone about their work with well-trained professionalism and precise teamwork infused with humungous dollops of character, joy and soul. It’s been a pleasure working with them.

WSJ: What’s the main difference when it comes to working with newcomers compared to the big Bollywood names you had in your previous film. Did you deliberately choose to work with newcomers?

Mr. Kapoor: It’s an act of God that I’m most grateful for. My reason for working with newcomers is obviously a combination of choices offered to me and the lack thereof. But there is a preordained path for all decisions that propel us in the direction we are meant to work toward, while the world has other plans for us.

WSJ: ‘Kai Po Che’ is the only Indian film that was selected for the Berlin International Film Festival. That’s quite an honor, how does it feel for a filmmaker?

Mr. Kapoor: The tagline of ‘Rock On’ is ‘follow your dream,’ and that’s a statement that is true to life. It’s the recognition from my peers and stalwarts who represent the finest cinematic talent worldwide – that is the ultimate gratification for me.

WSJ: What can we expect from this film that we haven’t seen you do before?

Mr. Kapoor: ‘Kai Po Che’ is complex; I am not. ‘Kai Po Che’ is earthy, raw and honest in its entirety; I am so for the most part. The film speaks of the omnipotent needs and concerns of ‘real’ India while I’m a metaphorical Bombay islander travelling through mainland India. So yes, this film has got me doing a lot one hasn’t seen me do before.

I can only hope my journey through the making of this film, which has enriched me physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually gets the viewers thinking, talking feeling, speaking and enjoying this insane roadtrip with the same fervor and thought.

Daniel is an expert on Indian movies and the celebrated ‘Bollywood Insider’ on Canadian entertainment show ‘Bollywood Boulevard.’ You can follow him on Twitter @Daniel_Pillai.

About India Real Time

India Real Time offers analysis and insights into the broad range of developments in business, markets, the economy, politics, culture, sports, and entertainment that take place every single day in the world’s largest democracy. Regular posts from Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires reporters around the country provide a unique take on the main stories in the news, shed light on what else mattered and why, and give global readers a snapshot of what Indians have been talking about all week. You can contact the editors at indiarealtime(at)wsj(dot)com.